The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against five members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing Campus Front of India (CFI) in a money laundering case before the designated court in Lucknow.
The financial probe agency has named Atikur Rahman (National Treasurer of CFI), Masud Ahmed (Delhi General Secretary of CFI), Sidhique Kappan (journalist associated with PFI) and Md. Alam (CFI/PFI member) in the chargesheet who were arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Mathura while they were on their way to Hathras to allegedly disturb communal harmony, incite violence and spread terror.
The ED has claimed that during their investigation they found that the visit of the PFI and CFI members was under the instructions of the National General Secretary of CFI K A Rauf Sherif and funds were provided him. Sherif was arrested by ED on December 12, 2020 while he was trying to flee from the country.
“ED investigation has established that K A Rauf Sherif entered into a criminal conspiracy with PFI members stationed in Gulf countries to fraudulently transfer money collected abroad by PFI in the guise of payments related to business transactions. The money was laundered through different layers and eventually reached K A Rauf Sherif and his associates belonging to PFI and CFI,” said ED.
The probe agency has further alleged that the ‘proceeds of crime’ amounting to around Rs 1.36 crore was obtained as a result of criminal activity and part of it was used by PFI and CFI activists in India for their “continuous unlawful activities over time which included funding of anti-CAA protests, inciting violence and fomenting trouble which led to Delhi riots in the month of February 2020.”
However, in the chargesheet, the ED has given specific focus to the purported visit of PFI and CFI members to Hathras with an intent to disturb communal harmony, incite communal riots and spread terror.
The agency claims to have also found evidence that the part of untainted money was parked through a purchase of land so that it could be used in the future by the members of PFI and CFI.
“Further, it is revealed that more than Rs 100 crore have been deposited in the accounts of PFI over the years and a very large part of the same has been deposited in cash. The source and disbursal of these funds is under investigation” added the ED.
According to officials, PFI has been continuously indulging in various scheduled offences under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) ever since the Narath arms training case of 2013 investigated by the NIA in which members of PFI and SDPI were convicted for “organising a terrorist camp and entering into criminal conspiracy to impart training to the youth in use of explosives and weapons, with an intention to prepare them for terrorist activities.”
The transfer and cash deposits by PFI has allegedly witnessed a sharp rise since 2013. The ED, which is investigating several other cases involving PFI, has also alleged active involvement of its members in the anti-CAA protests.
Search operations conducted at the offices of PFI by ED led to the seizure of incriminating documentary evidence which, according to officials, revealed that PFI has been collecting huge amounts of funds abroad through PFI members and activists specifically appointed for this purpose and that targets for foreign collection of funds have also been fixed.
“These funds have been remitted to India through hawala, underground channels and through remittances sent to the accounts of PFI members and related organisations along with their family members and associates. Further, statutory compliance for collection of funds abroad and their remittance to India have not been done by PFI and its related organisations like Rehab India Foundation (which received around Rs 50 lakh as foreign contribution from abroad) as they are not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976,” added the ED.
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